Yarn feeding mechanism for straight knitting machines



Sept. 8, 1931. E. RICHTER 1,822,317

YARN FEEDING MECHANIsM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 5, 1927' 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Enull Rwidzefi ATTORNEY.

Sept. 8, 1931. E. RICHTER 1,822,317

YARN FEEDING MECHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING IACHINES Filed Oct. 5, 1927 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Emi Ric/war,

A TTORNE Y.

M MW

Patented Sept. 8, 1931 PATENT OFFICE EMIL RICHTER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO SCI-ILETTER & ZANDER, INC

PORATION OF DELAWARE OF HOLIVIESBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- YARN FEEDING- MEGHANISM FOR STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Application filed October 5, 1927. Serial No. 224,225.

My said invention relates to yarn feeding mechanism for straight knitting mach nes and it is an object thereof to provide 1mproved means for varying the travel of yarn-guides, e. g., the guides for a spliclng yarn such as is used for making the clocks shown in Schletter Patent No. 1,531,925. It is an object of my invention to provide a mechanism of the character indicated which shall be more simpleand economical to manufacture than those heretofore known, and less liable to get out of order.

Referring to the drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of my devlce as applied to a knitting machine, with parts omitted for clearness of disclosure.

Fig. 2, an elevation of the mechanism of Fig. l, viewed from the left,

Fig. 3, a horizontal section on line 33 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4, a detail of yarn guide controlling mechanism such as may be adjustable by the screw spindle, viewed fromthe front.

In the drawings, I have shown threaded blocks 10, 10 slidable on a. pair of rods 20 and 21, there being two of these blocks in opposed relation as in Fig. 4, both having threaded engagement with a screw 24 as shown in Fig. 4. A rockshaft 25 is journaled in the blocks for sliding and oscillatory movement, said rockshaft carrying at an intermediate point a finger 26 adapted to engage screws 27 27 of'conventional type on brackets rising from a yarn-carrier bar 28, which is the third bar, counting from the rear of the set, the first bar 19 usually carrying the guides for the heel yarns and the second bar 19 the main or body yarn. The rockshaft 25 can be rocked to remove the finger from engagement with the carrier bar when the additional yarn (which in this case is a splicing yarn for making ornamental figures) is not to be used and is held in either position by a yielding detent 29 engaging selectively with longitudinal grooves in the rockshaft 25. While the finger is shown as engaging only one carrier bar it may obviously engage two or more, as desired.

In the embodiment of the invention here described I have shown a disk 36 fixed to the spindle of the screw 24 which spindle is journalled' in bearings 37, 37 on the fixed frame of the machine. The disk 36 has a plurality of pins 38 positioned for engagement by a reversible pawl 39 here shown as a forked lever with teeth 40-41 on adjacent faces of the opposed forks. This lever is pivoted at 42 on an actuating lever 43 pivoted at 44 and having a roller 45 adapted to be operated by a cam 46 on the main cam shaft 47. A shifter fork 48 on a rod 49 serves to move the roller 45 along a stud 45 on lever 43 underneath the cam 46 or away from it, the rod 49 being movable lengthwise of the machine by a mechanism clearly shown in the copending application of R. E. Schletter, Serial No. 295,285, February 19, 1929, now Patent 1,752,206. A spring 50 moves the roller 45 upward for engagement by the cam 46, the spring being attached to a hook 51 on the fixed frame of the machine at one end and at the other to a screw 52 on said lever. A rod 53 is connected by means of a pin 53 to a rockarm 54 (Fig. 2) depending from a shaft 55 (Figs. 6 and 7) extending from front to rear ofthe machine said rod 53 coacting with rod 49 to control the movement of rod 53 as described in the patent to Schletter above referred to. (See shaft 83 and rod 42?) of the patent.) Rod 53 is urged by a spring 35 against a lug shown at 42 in said Schletter patent (not shown) on rod 49 and is moved in one direc tion by said rod 49 under control of pattern mechanism more fully shown and explained in the patent above referred to. The shaft 55, at its rear end has a rockarm 56 connected by a link 57 to a cam lever 58 provided at 59 (Figs. 1 and 3) with a cam face adapted to ride over a coacting cam face on a block 60 attached to the lever 39. The spring 35 tends to move the parts in a direction to move the cam 59 toward the cam face on block 60.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when the finger 26 is so positioned as to be engaged by the screws on the third carrier bar (driven by the usual friction box), the throw of the carrier bar can be varied by turning the screw 24 through the agency of the pawl lever 39. If now rod 49 is moved to the left under the influence of pattern mechanism which as above stated does not form a part of my invention herein claimed, the roller 45 will be carried into the field of action of the cam 46. Thereafter at each rotation of the shaft 4:? the lever 39 will be actuated to rotate the screw 2 L one step in the clockwise direction and so widen the space between threaded blocks 10, 10. If now rod 53, which is under separate pattern control, be permitted to move to the left (Fig. 3) under the influence of spring 35 then the cam 59 will act against the cam face (30 to move the pawl lever on its pivot in a manner to throw the pawl 41 into engagement with a pin 38, and this will rotate the screw 14: in the reverse direction to narrow the space between the threaded blocks 10, 10 and so decrease the travel of the yarnguide controlled thereby. A spring 61 normally rocks the lever 39 to the left in Fig. 2 so that pawl a0 turns the screw-spindle in a counter clockwise direction when the lever 13 is operated.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in my device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a straight knitting machine of the cotton type having a straight row of fixed needles and a set of parallel yarn guide carrier rods mounted for reciprocation along said row, the combination of, a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, yarn guide carrier rods each end of whose travel is determined by one of said blocks, a main cam shaft, a lever operable by said main cam shaft, a ratchet fast to the screw, a pawl lever for operating the ratchet said lever being pivotally mounted on said first-named lever, a stud on said first-named lever, a roller movable along said stud into operative relation with a cam on said cam shaft, pattern-controlled means for moving said roller, a pattern-controlled cam lever for moving said pawl lever into position to rotate the ratchet in one direction, and resilient means for moving the pawl lever into position to rotate the ratchet in the opposite direction.

2. In a straight knitting machine, a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, yarn guide carrier rods whose travel is determined by said blocks, a main a lever operable by said main' a ratchet fast to the screw, a pawl lever for operating the ratchet said lever being pivotally mounted on said iirst named lever, a stud on said first-named lever, a roller movable along said stud into operative relation with a cam on said cam shaft, pattern-contr lled means for moving said roller, including a rod at the front of the machine movable lengthwise thereof, a yoke on the rod having forks straddling said roller, a pattern controlled cam lever for moving said pawl lever into position to rotate the ratchet in one direction, and re silient means for moving the pawl lever into position to rotate the ratchet in the opposite direction.

3. In a straight knitting machine, a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, yarn guide carrier rods whose travel is determined by said blocks, a main cam shaft, a lever operable by said main cam shaft, a ratchet fast to the screw, a pawl lever for operating the ratchet said lever being pivotally mounted on said firstnained lever, a stud on said first named lever, a roller movable along said stud into operative relation with a cam on said cam shaft, pattern-controlled means for moving cam shaft, cam shaft,

said roller, a rockshaft extending across the machine, means for reversely actuating the pawl lever including a cam lever operable on the pawl lever, connections from said rockshaft to said cam lever, and pattern controlled means for oscillating the rockshaft.

4. A device as in claim 3, said last-named means including a rod movable lengthwise of the machine and a spring for moving the rod in one direction.

5. In a straight knitting machine, a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, yarn guide carrier rods whose travel is determined by said blocks, a cam, a lever operable by said cam, a ratchet for operating the screw, a pawl lever having rigid forks at opposite sides of the ratchet, teeth on said forks operable to turn the ratchet in either direction said pawl lever being actuated by said first-named lever, pattern controlled means connecting the first-named lever to said cam intermittently and pattern-controlled means for determining the direction in which said ratchet is turned by said pawl lever.

6. In a knitting machine, a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, one or more yarn guide carrier rods whose travel is determined by said blocks, pawl and ratchet mechanism for rotating the screw including a pawl lever, pattern controlled means for actuating the pawl lever, and pattern-controlled means for determining the direction of rotation of the ratchet including a lever having a cam face coacting with a cam face on the pawl lever to cause the ratchet to be turned in one direction.

7. In a straight knitting machine, a plurality of reciprocatory yarn-guide carrier rods, stops to determine their stroke, and common means for adjusting said stops including a single ratchet, a rigid yoke-shaped lever embracing the ratchet, teeth on the lever for actuating the ratchet, pattern-controlled means for controlling the operation of the pawl lever, and pattern-controlled means for determining the direction of rotation of the ratchet.

8. In a straight knitting machine having fixed needles and frictionally driven reciprocating yarn guide carrier rods, the combination of a reversely threaded screw, threaded blocks on the screw, one or more reciprocatory auxiliary yarn guide carrier rods Whose travel in each direction is determined by the position of said blocks, a main yarn guide carrier rod independent of said blocks, a ratchet mechanism for rotating the screw, a forked lever having pawls for rotating the ratchet in opposite directions and having an inclined face at its lower end, a pattern-controlled cam coacting with said face to move the lever for engaging one of said pawls with the ratchet, and means for moving the lever to engage the other pawl with the ratchet.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EMIL RICHTER. 

